2019 Who will be the PRETENDERS AND WHO WILL BE THE CONTENDERS

SlickRich28120

All-Conference
Nov 4, 2006
1,279
1,608
113
Now that the ship is over and we have the long wait till another year of the sport we all love, who are the early front runners , I know East Surry was junior laden, they should be loaded , the bears will be young but very good, should see them with a stable of running backs as good as any. I hear they will move from the spread to a run based offense due to the personal they have. They deff will have the running backs and qb to be successful at it. Atkins has a lot of experience with the veer, would be strange to see the bears in it but I could see it being very successful. Lots of talent coming up from the jv ranks. I know East has scheduled Reidsville, should be a solid bell weather for them early on. I know the bears have slots in the non conference schedule, be interested to see who they pick up. Hopefully someone real solid who can test them early on. What’s everybody else bring back and got coming up.
 

SlickRich28120

All-Conference
Nov 4, 2006
1,279
1,608
113
Will be interesting to see who the bears pick up on the non conference side and how that running game / new offense will look.
 
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eastncfan101

Redshirt
Oct 13, 2018
41
19
0
i’m expecting east surry to be the 1aa favorite next year , in the west i’m expecting mount airy to also be very competitive, far as 1a in the west the one of typical smc teams or mitchell will probably represent them next year . 1aa in the east will definitely be tarboro and edenton , 1a in the east will be a toss up . i don’t see pamlico going back , could be anyone
 

TarVikes

All-Conference
Nov 23, 2017
2,137
4,301
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I think East Surry comes out of the west again.
Tarboro is losing a lot of weapons and will be tough to replace but the juniors this year have only lost 1 time in school ball and that was the first game of their 7th grade year. I don’t know if Tarboro will be as dominant next year, but I still feel like they will be pretty good.
 

FB is my Life

Senior
Nov 10, 2001
6,622
734
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i’m expecting east surry to be the 1aa favorite next year , in the west i’m expecting mount airy to also be very competitive, far as 1a in the west the one of typical smc teams or mitchell will probably represent them next year . 1aa in the east will definitely be tarboro and edenton , 1a in the east will be a toss up . i don’t see pamlico going back , could be anyone

Pamlico does lose its QB, but most everyone returns and their backs behind him were freshmen and sophomores.
 

eastncfan101

Redshirt
Oct 13, 2018
41
19
0
#1 for pamlico didn’t play and they almost lost to south creek ... he was there bread and butter , 1a east will be a toss up for sure .... could plymouth get back to their old ways ? gunna be an interesting year , as far as tarboro goes ... i saw their jv play this year and i think they will be a talented team and could very well represent the east but no where near as dominant as this year or last year so we will see
 

FB is my Life

Senior
Nov 10, 2001
6,622
734
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#1 for pamlico didn’t play and they almost lost to south creek ... he was there bread and butter , 1a east will be a toss up for sure .... could plymouth get back to their old ways ? gunna be an interesting year , as far as tarboro goes ... i saw their jv play this year and i think they will be a talented team and could very well represent the east but no where near as dominant as this year or last year so we will see

Pamlico held out about 6 kids against SC. #1 Was not used much in the regular season. Other than the clunker against South Creek and of course Tarboro, they were not tested until the eastern finals. Pamlico will be in the hunt. Plymouth has internal issues. Not having Cody being the big one.
 

eastncfan101

Redshirt
Oct 13, 2018
41
19
0
i agree i think plymouth doesn’t have a bright future until they can get someone in their that can run the show , far as pamlico goes i understand they return a lot but i just don’t see them doing this without #1 even this year but kids get better in the offseason so who knows ....
 

wncbowhunter

All-Conference
Dec 21, 2002
1,226
2,379
53
As for the west, Mt. Airy, E Surry, Swain, Robbinsville, Murphy, and Mitchell. I think 2 of these 6 will play in the 1a and 1aa title game.

As for the east, 1aa Tarboro until proven otherwise. 1a I have no idea.

Go Mountaineers
 

mbdfan_rivals121259

All-Conference
Mar 17, 2007
25,690
4,313
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Murphy returns five on offense: #6, #28, #54, #61, #73 and six on defense: #3, #6, #24, #52, #61, #71. A couple big holes to fill on both sides of the ball, some obvious answers at some spots and others less so.

I feel like Murphy has talented replacements on offense already on the roster, though skill depth is a concern and I don't see an obvious answer at tight end with #80 and #81 graduating. There will be typical growing pains at QB too, as Murphy will be starting a 10th grader there. Defense is a bit of a different story, the d-line has talented young kids ready to step in but a couple of the other holes on defense (free safety, weakside linebacker, corner) may need to be filled by a couple players not currently on the team. Whether it's 1-2 sophomore skill kids coming out to play again next year and/or 1-2 transfers coming in as anticipated, if not there could be some weak links on defense next year.

The one place I feel confident Murphy will be better next season is on the o-line. Murphy o-line was already good but next season it's going to be nasty, barring something unforeseen there won't be a better o-line at the 1A/1AA level imo. The d-line should be strong again next year too, though maybe not to the level it was this season as #76 and #80 were both really good, but some people will be surprised by just how good #74 is going to be.

Ultimately I think Murphy's line play on both sides of the ball will lead the way in the early going next season as some of the inexperienced kids at the skill spots and in the secondary gain seasoning. Murphy has one of the best coaching staffs in the state in any classification and if they can get a couple kids to commit to playing again they'll have this group near the top of the 1A pile by season's end yet again.
 
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Gps62

Freshman
Oct 31, 2018
83
95
0
Murphy returns five on offense: #6, #28, #54, #61, #73 and six on defense: #3, #6, #24, #52, #61, #71. A couple big holes to fill on both sides of the ball, some obvious answers at some spots and others less so.

I feel like Murphy has talented replacements on offense already on the roster, though skill depth is a concern and I don't see an obvious answer at tight end with #80 and #81 graduating. There will be typical growing pains at QB too, as Murphy will be starting a 10th grader there. Defense is a bit of different story, the d-line has talented young kids ready to step in but a couple of the other holes on the defense (free safety, weakside linebacker, corner) may need to be filled by a couple players not currently on the team. Whether it's a couple sophomore skill kids coming out to play again next year and/or 1-2 transfers coming in as anticipated, if not there could be some weak links on defense next year.

The one place I feel confident Murphy will be better next season is on the o-line. Murphy o-line was already good but next season it's going to be nasty, barring something unforeseen there won't be a better o-line at the 1A/1AA level imo. The d-line should be strong again next year too, though maybe not to the level it was this season as #76 and #80 were both really good. I think Murphy's line play on both sides of the ball will lead the way in the early going next season as some of the inexperienced kids at the skill spots and in the secondary gain seasoning.
I agree Murphys line will be a beast for anyone to handle we also return the two leading tacklers on d #24 and #71 both sophomores. The o line isn’t going to be hurting got several to fill the spots. We will all have to see who’s the running backs are going to be but behind that o line should be easy to get yards! Go Dogs!
 

Gentle Knight

All-Conference
Jul 23, 2018
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2,389
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Robbinsville will return 9 starters on offense and 7 starters on defense.
 
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Keyuga12

Redshirt
Nov 16, 2018
85
47
0
Robbinsville will be very good and swain county was very young.the maroon devils will make a charge in next couple of years.
 

mbdfan_rivals121259

All-Conference
Mar 17, 2007
25,690
4,313
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Robbinsville will be very good and swain county was very young.the maroon devils will make a charge in next couple of years.
Swain's roster will be senior heavy next season, next year is their year to make a charge if they're going to do so. Swain brings back Sain and Lossiah in 2020 but they graduate all their lineman, linebackers, etc.
 
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Gentle Knight

All-Conference
Jul 23, 2018
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Thought you lost 5 starters on defense? #3, #9, #11, #17 and #81. Murphy and Robbinsville both have some big shoes to fill on defense.
Carlos was actually a starter on defense in some of our sets before he was injured. He is only a freshman. I counted him as one of the defensive starters who will be returning.
#77 and #54 were also defensive starters in the early season who will be returning but I didn't include them
 
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Bonecollector1

Redshirt
Nov 7, 2018
33
31
0
Mitchell should be very good next year. They return almost everyone, including their kicker. I think they lose a couple of lineman, rb, lb and cb.
 

wormyone42

Senior
Aug 5, 2004
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502
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Mitchell should be very good next year. They return almost everyone, including their kicker. I think they lose a couple of lineman, rb, lb and cb.

Return 9 on offense and 7 on defense. Should be pretty good, although the losses are pretty big.